Author's Notes: Yay! Chapter 3 is here. Enjoy!

Warning: The F-bomb. Twice, I think. I'm not sure if that matters, but it may. Other assorted swear words as well, but that's going to happen rather often.

Typical disclaimer here.

3. Partners.

It was a mess. Just one big fucking mess. A grubby, heavyset man with small, shifting eyes licked his lips nervously as he crouched in the stinking tunnels, squinting into the darkness. His men were getting nervous. They shifted and grumbled among themselves, fearing even though they knew that they could get down here. For the moment, the Underboss and his men were in very little danger. As much as it galled him to be squatting here next to a river of shit, it would be even more aggravating to be caught and turned over to the police by a freak in a spandex owl suit. Not exactly dignified.

His thoughts, which were getting more and more unpleasant by the second, were interrupted by a nervous elbow to the ribs, "Hey boss, are sure they can't get down here?" A nervous, gaunt man trembled at his elbow.

The Underboss glared. "No Benny, I already told you, they can get down here their ship's too goddamn big."

Almost as if his words were an incantation, a group of rats scrabbled from the dark tunnels at their feet. The Underboss frowned, huh. Didn't think rats acted like that. More and more rats were dashing down the dripping tunnels, their startled squeaking sounding eerily like frightened screams as they echoed off the dank concrete walls. Suddenly, the thin man standing beside him, Benny, grabbled his arm, "Oh damn. God dammit, look!" The Underboss was looking

A whole sea of filthy rodent bodies swarmed the tunnels, scrambling towards the cluster of men; some were even jumping into the filthy water in their terror. "What the hell?" Underboss gasped, kicking out violently as rats ran over his feet. Panic building, his mind just barely registered the smell of some kind of smoke, at odds with the filthy stench inherent in sewers, when he found himself looking into the depths of hell.

Plumes of sickly green smoke billowed down the shadowy tunnels, illuminated only by his flashlight, and there, just barely beating the hell-fire, was the demon himself. Underboss wasn't sure what it was that he was riding on, but when he saw the trench coated, blank faced devil, it turned his insides to ice. "Oh shit!" Benny screamed, falling back onto damp concrete. Underboss found he couldn't say anything as it seemed that his tongue had turned to cardboard. He just stared at the swift arrival of his own speeding ruin.

He closed his eyes.

***

Nite Owl was able to hold in his laughter all through the apprehension and restraining of the Underboss and his team. All through his interaction with the police. And all through his brief liaison with the press. After that, he fairly dashed to Archie, took one look at Rorschach, comfortably ensconced in the passenger's seat, munching on the sugar cubes he'd pulled from the cupboard above the coffeepot, and burst out laughing. He collapsed on the floor in hysterics. Rorschach looked at him in what seemed like distant surprise.

"You-they…ga-" Dan gasped incoherently, unable to be articulate in the face of hilarity. Rorschach flicked an imaginary piece of dirt from his sleeve, "Yes, Nite Owl?"

Dan finally regained his composure, "Oh my god, man. Their faces! You- and the hoverbike…oh jeez…" he slumped against the inner wall of Archie, "Good job tonight, man. Good work." He grinned, his good mood loosening his usually prudent grip on his mouth, "We make great partners."

It wasn't until Rorschach jerked his head around to look at him did he realize what exactly he said. Ice slid down his stomach. "Uhh…" Oh crap, now he'd done it. He cast about for something, anything to change the subject.

Rorschach slowly popped another sugar cube in his mouth and chewed thoughtfully. "Yes," Dan looked at him nervously, "Suppose we make good partners. All things considered." Dan couldn't stop the relieved grin that split his face, "Yeah," he laughed,

"All things considered."

A/N: Well, that was actually shorted than I thought it would be… Hmm. I hope you enjoyed it anyways. So at this point, I have chapter 5 only partially written and then after that, the next chapter I have fully written is ch. 35. So updates may come later than what they are right now. But maybe not, as it is summer break for me now.

So what do you think? Should I continue? Has reading this made you want to stab out your eyes? Reviews would be appreciated. Thank you!